180 Ton Carnivorous Whale! Perucetus colossus

Perucetus colossus is the new giant of paleontology. The enormous basilosaurid whale had some of the most dense bones of any mammal, and its close relation to the giant predator Basilosaurus allows for skeletal scaling. Perucetus weighed between 85 and 340 metric tonnes, making it potentially the largest animal known to science. Perucetus was not only the size of a blue whale, but it may have been even bigger than a blue whale. It may also have been carnivorous, which would make it the largest predator in Earth's history.

Disclaimer: This video only addresses the original Bianucci et al. 2023 study, not any third-party responses or extra reconstructions made in response to the paper. Those will be addressed in a separate video.

Bianucci et al 2023: A heavyweight early whale pushes the boundaries of vertebrate morphology. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06381-1

Article summary: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02408-9.epdf?no_publisher_access=1&r3_referer=nature

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